Denim Disco: 1970's TV GOLD - BUDGIE 1970's TV GOLD - BUDGIE ''From the bright busy streets of the Charing Cross Road To the dark little alleys in old Soho From the smart noisy clubs where everybody goes To the dark little streets that nobody knows'' BUDGIE was one of the great BRITISH TV DRAMA series of the 1970's.It was first broadcast in the UK during 1971/72 and has become one of the most fondly remembered TV Shows of the era.The programme showed the gritty reality of everyday life in a way that was rarely touched upon in other TV shows of the day and the passing of time has not lessened the shows impact The central role of small time crook RONALD 'BUDGIE' BIRD was played by the former teen pop idol ADAM FAITH.Faith had only really dabbled in acting before.He'd performed in a couple of movies in the wake of his chart success and after the pop career tailed off he appeared in some minor theatrical roles.

The show was created by two experienced and successful writers:KEITH WATERHOUSE and WILLIS HALL and a few eyebrows were raised when they choose Faith for the lead role Throughout the series Bird attempts to become a player in the SOHO CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD. He possesses of a fair degree of charm,but a lack of the requisite amount of cunning places him firmly at the bottom of the criminal 'food chain' Faith played the part with such conviction that the public began to question where RONALD BIRD finished and where ADAM FAITH began.During a 1974 TV interview RUSSEL HARTY said to Faith that he would be ''Frightened to come up against you in a dark alley''.Adam was forced to remind him ''Thats Budgie,thats not me.I can't help what Budgie is''.Another striking character in the programme was the gangster Charlie Endell {played by IAN CUTHBERTSON}.Cuthbertson stood at 6ft4 and also turned in a remarkably believable performance.I doubt if HARTY would have even walked into a room if 'Charlie Endell' had been present!

The show proved to be incredibly popular and soon every 'JACK THE LAD' worth his salt would be attempting to emulate BUDGIE in the fashion stakes.In an early episode Faith wore a short zip up cotton jacket by STIRLING COOPER which had large lapels and patch pockets in contrasting colours. Similar jackets were also manufactured in suede and leather and these became known as 'BUDGIE' jackets. The 'FEATHERED' haircut he sported in the show {created by KEITH WAINWRIGHT of SMILE} was also widely emulated.Before long the BUDGIE haircut and jacket teamed with FLARED trousers,wide collared shirt and broad STACK HEELED became THE LOOK for working class white males in the UK and made ADAM FAITH the much emulated 'FACE' of STREET FAHION. BUDGIE was more than just a character in a TV drama show. BUDGIE was no less than THE WIDE BOY JAMES DEAN OF THE TELEVISION SCREEN! Budgie (TV Series 1971–1972) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property.

Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Chirpy Cockney petty crook 'Budgie' Bird is the main character in this British TV series of the early 70s. Budgie was the eternal failure, with every scam, and every attempt to make his ... See full summary » Creators: a list of 981 titles created 24 Sep 2012 a list of 378 titles created 25 Mar 2015 a list of 1054 titles created 22 Oct 2015 a list of 990 titles created 27 Nov 2015 a list of 195 titles created 2 months ago Search for " Budgie " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Edit Storyline Chirpy Cockney petty crook 'Budgie' Bird is the main character in this British TV series of the early 70s.

Budgie was the eternal failure, with every scam, and every attempt to make his fortune landing him further and further into trouble, either with the police, or with his untrustworthy sometime boss, the cynical Charlie Endell, a respectable club owner on the surface, and underworld villain below it. All attempts to put Budgie on the 'straight and narrow' by his girlfriend and awful ex-wife were in vain, and with an unflappable optimism, he bounced in and out of prison on a regular basis as the series progressed. Written by D.Giddings <darren.giddings@newcastle.ac.uk> 9 April 1971 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia Due to a union action by TV technicians, some early episodes were made in black and white as a protest over pay. See more » Crazy Credits In the opening titles, the wording "Budgie", "Starring Adam Faith" and "And Iain Cuthbertson" is made up of piles of pound notes arranged on the ground into the shape of the lettering. These notes come from a briefcase which Budgie steals from a car and which he then drops, causing the banknotes to spill out.

See more » Connections (middlesbrough, UK) – See all my reviews Budgie (or 'The Loser', as it was originally intended to be called) was a big hit with audiences back in 1971/2. It gave 60's songster Adam Faith, another chance at stardom, and led him on an interesting career as an actor. The show highlighted a certain (jailbird/chancer/petty thief/lovable rogue) Ronald 'Budgie' Bird, and his frequent (yet never successful) attempts to make 'easy' money. His futile attempts are also thwarted, due to his connection with Glasweigan sex shop owner/crime boss Charlie Endell (played brilliantly by Iain Cuthbertson) who constantly hangs over Budgie, depriving him of any earnings, and always coming out on top. His henchman, Laughing Spam Fritter (great name) is also menacingly portrayed by John Rhys-Davies.

Given Endells questionable background, yet his (seemingly) respectable 'public' facade, the series has a lot to say about class system (or at very least, the idea of a class system) than it does about petty crime in the seventies. Budgie is not without redeeming features, and the one good thing in his life, is (his ever put upon girl-fiend/mother of his child) Hazell (another great down to earth performance by Lynne Dalby.) She constantly stands by her man (even when he seemingly leaves her for other women) yet receives little or no thanks for her endeavours.

The show (in it's 26 episode run, in 2 series) covers a lot of ground, and also features some great guest cameos (including: John Thaw, Gordon Jackson, Derek Jacobi and James Bolam, to name but a few) Some (if not most) times this show has a certain comedic flow to it, yet other times, it takes on a darker sinister edge (mostly due to the sometime psychotic rages of Charlie Endell) but all in all, it's not only a great seventies time capsule, but (still to this very day) a highly moving and involving television show, that was long overdue a repeat in the UK (it's last and only repeat, being on Channel 4 circa 1985) but it seems the great minds at Network DVD have put together a excellent release of series 1 & 2 (Series two, also has some great special features) Highlights from series one are: Out, Grandee Hotel, Everybody Loves A Baby, Sunset Mansions.

Highlights from series two are: And The Lord Taketh Away, Do Me A Favour, Twenty-Four Thousand Ball Point Pens, King For A day, Brief Encounter, Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run All in all, a great series. Hopefully Network DVD can release the rarely seen 1979 spin off 'Charlie Endell Esq' in the near future? 10 out of 10 (and surprisingly, the first comment, on this great show) 22 of 22 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes The Lad and the Loser: Budgie (1971-72) – British Television Drama The Lad and the Loser: Budgie (1971-72) BY NIGEL SARRASSA-DYER Twenty-six episodes.

Writers: Keith Waterhouse, Willis Hall, Douglas Livingstone, Jack Trevor Story; Producer: Verity Lambert; Directors: Moira Armstrong, Alan Gibson, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Mike Newell, Herbert Wise Budgie, the story of small time Soho criminal Ronald ‘Budgie’ Bird, was produced by London Weekend Television and ran over two series, each of thirteen episodes, between 1971 and 1972. 1 Both series explored the liminal world of pornography, police corruption, criminal scams, violence and petty crime, and Budgie’s place within it. While Budgie has come to be affectionately remembered as a cockney comedy-drama with a charming, irrepressible lead character set in 1970s Soho, and as a series which launched an ‘entire fashion craze’, and is indeed all of these things, it would do the series a huge disservice to ignore its other dimensions, in particular those concerned with gender and masculinity identity. 2 As social, economic and cultural changes of the 1970s impacted upon gender relations, a significant number of programmes were able to explore multiple and competing constructions of masculinity.

Issues around gender and masculine anxieties featured across a variety of television genres: routinely in sitcoms such as Rising Damp and Man about the House; 3 as small parts of wider discourses in dramas like The Knowledge and Comedians ; 4 and in both the documentary The Family and the science fiction series Survivors. 5 With Budgie, however, it is the detailed examination of a particular masculinity at a particular time which is central to the narrative as it is played out in the trajectory of Budgie’s decline and fall. The series was devised and largely written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, who had achieved considerable success the previous decade. Echoes of Budgie can be found in some of Waterhouse’s earlier writing. For example, William Fisher in the 1959 novel Billy Liar (later adapted for theatre and cinema by Waterhouse and Hall) is, like Budgie, a dreamer and a fantasist.

Similarly Waterhouse and Hall’s script for the 1963 film West 11 6 depicts a particular milieu in London (in this case Notting Hill rather than Soho) in a decade (the 1960s rather than the 1970s) which is part ‘seedy’, part swinging, part ‘sleazy’ and peopled by richly idiosyncratic characters. 7 Even Alfred Lynch’s central character Joe Beckett, while more intelligent and aware than Budgie, bears a striking resemblance to him as a somewhat confused outsider on the fringes of the criminal underworld. Some of Waterhouse’s later work also has echoes of Budgie. His novel Soho, for example, is set in the district that he knew and loved and was on the verge of disappearing. Similarly his script for the play Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell operates, in part, as an elegy or paean for a particular time and place displaying his love for and knowledge of that part of London, something which is no less apparent in Budgie. Budgie was notable for the involvement of producer Verity Lambert, following her considerable success with Doctor Who and preceding her groundbreaking achievements with Euston Films.

8 A number of distinguished directors were also involved in the production including Jim Goddard who would go on to direct Out, Fox and The Black Stuff; 9 Michael Lindsay-Hogg, whose later work would include several episodes of Play for Today , Brideshead Revisited and Bill Brand); 10 Mike Newell, who had been building a reputation for himself with crime dramas Spindoe and Big Breadwinner Hog and whose later work would take him to Hollywood; 11 and BAFTA-winning Moira Armstrong, whose career as one of television’s most prolific directors of popular drama, spanning fifty years, would include the acclaimed series Testament of Youth. 12 Budgie starred pop singer Adam Faith, who had already made successful forays into acting in a number of British films. Faith’s personification of Budgie, which became enormously popular with a young male working class audience, is perhaps one of the best fictional examples of what came to be known as The Lad.

13 Variously described by Robert Elms as ‘a guttersnipe peacock’, ‘Jack the Lad’ and ‘a cheeky, money hungry, street savvy working class guy, obsessed with wearing the right schmutter’, Budgie Bird was able to encapsulate the aspirations of a large and significant section of working class youth. 14 In this sense he personifies what Caughie and Rockett have called the crafty working-class lothario. 15 Being highly aware of his own image and style, confident as an individual and not necessarily operating as part of a homosocial male group, but still holding an unreconstructed attitude towards women, he is perhaps more likely to be seen in the company of women than other men. However, he is less interested in the women than he is in himself. Furthermore, unusually for the time, whilst being resolutely heterosexual Budgie eschews any form of homophobia. Unlike other characters in the series he is neither abashed nor appears threatened when confronted with openly camp men or evidence of same sex liaisons. In the early 70s advertisers made a concerted effort to target male consumers, resulting in the emergence of a new language.

Whilst traditional masculine products such as beer and tobacco were marketed more aggressively, new more ‘feminine’ products like aftershave also entered into advertising. Leon Hunt sees here the emergence of The Lad, a generally younger man, part pop star, part footballer, willing to incorporate elements of femininity into his lifestyle. 16 The Lad is resolutely heterosexual but is open to new ideas, styles and fashions. His version of masculinity is fluid but can also be awkward, comic and somewhat vulnerable. 17 What he also contributes is a distinctly accessible role model for working class youth and a break with models of traditional working class masculinity, although whether this is a genuine challenge to the dominant paradigms of hegemonic masculinity is debatable. 18 While working-class men’s interest in designer clothes was a reflection of masculinity that had ‘partly detached itself from its formative links to traditional class identities’, becoming ‘aspirational and more narcissistic’, Budgie was far from the upper-middle-class fantasies of Jason King and The Persuaders, 19 its central character owing more to the legacy of dandyism which emerged in working-class personalities like Terence Stamp in the 1960s.

20 If, as Robert Shail has argued, figures like Stamp and Michael Caine personified a particular form of metropolitan working class masculinity and they themselves constituted a considerable part of the new meritocracy of the sixties, then Budgie could be seen as the 1970s corollary to this phenomenon. 21 With his optimistic approach to life he comes over like a 1960s anachronism, the working class dandy. His look certainly suggests success and affluence with his feathered haircut, flamboyant Carnaby Street suits, tight fitted suede jackets, satin trousers and white clogs. However, the reality of his situation more accurately reflects the ostensible disillusion of the 1970s. His milieux are not galleries, exclusive clubs or chic discothèques, but strip clubs, gambling dens and dirty bookshops. His escorts are not fashion models and actresses but strippers and check out girls, and the closest he gets to position and status is as the errand boy for a much more successful and socially aspirational working class villain. He is a character who finds every available opportunity for success thwarted as he finds it increasingly impossible to transcend his roots and his place in society.

If, as Shail asserts, ‘the exuberance which marked the working-class emancipations of the early 1960s’ led to a dandified, meritocracy in certain circles, then from the ‘besieged mentality’ of the 1970s emerged a masculinity, based upon this meritocracy but without many of the concomitant attributes. 22 The best Budgie can do is look the part. While on the surface Budgie appears to epitomise The Lad, a working class consumer, confident, stylish and irrepressible, the narratives of both series tend to undercut this image, while providing a space for a deeper exploration of Budgie’s own masculine frailty. Despite operating on the fringes of Soho’s criminal world, participating in numerous scams, continually trying to get one over on other characters, it is Budgie himself who is more often, ironically, portrayed as the victim. While he is never violent himself, he is, at times, on the receiving end of violence. While being relatively insensitive to the feelings of Hazel, his girlfriend, and some of his associates he does at other times display a deeply moving sensitivity to others.

In an encounter with his former teacher in ‘Could do Better’, he spends much of the episode listening to the man recount his lonely life since his wife left him. 23 In ‘Twenty-Four Thousand Ball Point Pens’ he has serious doubts about participating in a scam which would leave an elderly woman out of pocket. 24 Even more poignantly in ‘Sunset Mansions, or Whatever Happened to Janey Baib?’ he forms a genuine and affectionate relationship with a somewhat proud but deluded middle aged actress, attempting to comfort her and shield her from the reality of her faded career. 25 It is however in the rejection and abuse that he receives at the hands of Charlie Endell, his sometime boss, where his vulnerability reveals itself in a mixture of hurt and bewilderment. Budgie looks to Endell as a mentor, someone to nurture him. He wants to be taken seriously by Endell both professionally and personally; Endell, however, sees Budgie as no more than a minion, and certainly does not want him involved with his own private life or his family.

He constantly ridicules Budgie’s attempts to be a real villain, berates him for not understanding the complexities of business, threatens him if Budgie’s actions might lead to Endell’s own wife becoming upset. It is Endell who finally arranges for Budgie to be tracked down and badly beaten for his transgressions. In the final episode of the second series, Budgie ultimately realises the reality of a masculine hierarchy which positions himself at the bottom and Endell at the top. ‘It ain’t a free country, only for the biggest’, he cries. This is followed by a highly symbolic scene in the grounds of a ruined church, accompanied by the sound of church bells, a low angle shot of Endell, silhouetted against the ruins, looming over a quailing Budgie pleading against his punishment. 26 While Budgie appears to see Endell as some kind of surrogate father figure, Endell does not treat Budgie like a son. Why Budgie has turned to Endell to fulfil this role becomes clear in the two-part story ‘Fiddler on the Hoof’, where his real father is revealed as dissolute, uncaring and highly critical of his son to the point of antagonism.

27 In a later episode Budgie’s father fails to inform Budgie of his mother’s death. The most moving scene however, which underscores Budgie’s own vulnerable sensitivity and the lack of sensitivity that others have for him, is when his family and friends gather together to celebrate his sister’s wedding and his errant father turns up only to rant and rail once again against his son. When the family are forced to choose who stays at the party and who goes, it is Budgie who is asked to leave. Budgie expresses a disjuncture between male identities founded upon the mythic and reality, between men’s expectations and experiences, and it is indeed the theme music which frequently highlights this. The lyrics used for the second series operate as a litany of maudlin self pity: ‘I’m nobody’s fool and I’m nobody’s friend’. This elegy continues with the line ‘nobody notices me’, reflecting the eponymous protagonist’s inability to engender any heroic qualities to elevate his endeavours to mythic status. For Budgie there is no possibility of (to use Jefferson’s terms) ‘transcendence’ from the ‘mundane’.

28 Indeed the overall narrative trajectory of Budgie’s story, as well as for each individual episode, serves to play out this impossibility. Thus, rather than establish any mythic or heroic status for Budgie, the narrative(s) resolve themselves in a sense of melancholia. Jonathan Rutherford has talked about the broken promises of patriarchy where men invest the meanings of themselves in the structures and images of male superiority. That is where the promise of patriarchy is supposed to lie, in dreams of fame, greatness and of being someone. Yet these dreams rarely bear fruition. The reality of class and racial hierarchies ensure that the majority of men wait for a payoff that rarely comes. What ensues is the ‘bitterness and disappointments of men let down by the broken promises of patriarchy’, the intangible goals of masculinity that never materialise, ‘yet he still feels at home in his sexual identity rather than make any attempt to change it’. 29 As Roger Horrocks has observed, ‘patriarchal society has demanded and constructed a fearsome male narcissism’.

30 Ultimately, as Budgie’s attempts to achieve mythic status constantly elude him his geniality and the optimism, apparent in the first series, begin to evaporate and the bitterness and disappointment that Rutherford describes become increasingly manifest. While Budgie conforms to Hunt’s definition of the 70s working class ‘Lad’, confidently embracing the ostensibly ‘feminine’ through clothing, style and consumption while retaining many of the characteristics of the dominant paradigms of masculinity, his real persona is far more complex. 31 With its melancholic theme music used for the first series, plaintively-voiced lyrics for the second series, and narratives which emphasise rejection and failure, Budgie reveals its namesake to be far more than a mere signifier for youthful masculine confidence in the 1970s. Budgie himself is lonely and confused, confronted by his own inability to achieve, to become the equivalent of pop star or footballer. More than this, his own apparently confident masculinity becomes increasingly vulnerable, bringing him at times close to tears in a state of bewilderment at the treatment he receives from those he cares for. Ultimately, Budgie is revealed to be equally The Lad and The Loser.

32 While Budgie is the recipient and beneficiary of a wave of trickling down of 1960s permissiveness together with a more relaxed attitude towards gender differences, he continually resorts to manoeuvres which owe more to the power/gender relations of a previous generation. 33 Indeed while the age appeared to be permissive, this permission appears to have been granted almost exclusively to men. While Budgie exemplifies this permissive populism this is still purely a male domain. Power and gender relations remain the same. Men are still in charge; patriarchy still exists, men still exercise power both inside and outside mainstream culture. Consequently those men with little power within the masculine hierarchy, like Budgie, attempt to exercise power at moments of conspicuous success – affirming their masculinity through clothes and money or at all other times through casual misogyny. Thus, the notion of The Lad as a new construction of masculinity is both meretricious and superficial – the only thing new about him is his style. While Budgie’s masculine performance ostensibly betrays a degree of fluidity the reality becomes increasingly apparent as his aspirations are thwarted. In the first series Budgie is at times charming, sensitive, charismatic and appealingly irrepressible.

His style and appeal allows one to overlook his shortcomings. Furthermore the fact that he is a loser allows for a sense of sympathy (at his plight). However, in the second series this idea is turned on its head. His irrepressible nature – having ‘stood for it’ once again – can only be seen as stupidity. And his actions and attitudes, largely through repetition but also through making them increasingly extreme, make the character far less appealing. In ‘Glory of Fulham’, for example, as success once again eludes him, he becomes more bitter and misogynistic. 34 With his jibes about ’women’s lib’ (an echo of Bob Hope’s tirade at Miss World 1970), his exploitation of others, particularly Hazel, becomes more cynical. As he becomes more anxious and his always precarious masculine privilege becomes ever more insecure, his actions are revealed as increasingly pitiful, his behaviour problematic and no longer amusing. As people become less tolerant of him he attempts to assert himself, less through charm and more through direct challenge and confrontation.

As his protracted domestic squabbles with Hazel become increasingly bitter, he states that their young son is ‘your lousy kid’, complains that the child’s crying has woken up his racing greyhound (his latest doomed venture) and threatens violence against Hazel. Even his sexual allure begins to evaporate as he becomes sleazier, his lasciviousness becoming almost predatory. Gradually through the last three episodes, comedy turns to tragedy. This is not simply the tragedy of his own position but also the tragedy he brings upon others (again particularly Hazel) through his thoughtlessness and selfishness. In spite of its comic moments, the mood of the series has darkened considerably. Ultimately, while Budgie has come to be fondly remembered as a light drama, with comedic moments, depicting a likeable character’s laddish behaviour and a fixation on clothes, set in a fictional depiction of a lost Soho and its 70s criminal world, it is much more than this. 35 It is a complex examination of working class masculinity through a relatively simple and naïve male character.

However, while it opens up interesting discourses around a particular emergent masculinity, any genuine fluidity or transcendence is heavily circumscribed throughout the narrative leaving Budgie trapped within the existing/persisting class structures, the dominant constructions of masculinity and the limits of his own cognitive abilities. While the series may have constituted part of a shift in representations of masculinity, it was less than a radical challenge to the privileges of patriarchy. While it shows increasing tolerance to non-normative behaviour it nevertheless retains strong elements of misogyny at moments of crisis reverting to residual constructions of masculinity. As Budgie’s desperation becomes more palpable, so his mood degenerates into dark self pity. This has become, ultimately, masculinity at the end of its tether, as he declares in the final scene, ‘You can’t win, this thing’s bigger than the both of us. It’s the whole bleedin’ system’. Images of Moira Armstrong and Verity Lambert are taken from the documentary Budgie’s Birds, which is on the Network DVD release of Budgie. Originally posted: 17 February 2016.

class=”statcounter”> > Budgie - The Complete Series Boxset [DVD] [1971] | DVDs | 123PriceCheck.com Read Amazon's Reviews instead. Shops' Descriptions If available, descriptions of Budgie - The Complete Series Boxset DVD from some of the shops we list are shown below: GAMESEEK All 26 episodes of the 1970s drama starring Adam Faith as petty crook Ron 'Budgie' Bird who constantly finds himself embroiled in petty scams & get rich quick schemes - none of which seem to end in success & alll of w... XTRAVISION All 26 episodes of the 1970s drama starring Adam Faith as petty crook Ron 'Budgie' Bird who constantly finds himself embroiled in petty scams & get rich quick schemes - none of which seem to end in success, & alll of which seem to get Budgie in trouble with the police, & with his dodgy underworld boss, Charlie Endell (Iain Cuthbertson).

Episodes are: 'Out'; 'Some Mother's Son'; 'Brains'; 'Grandee Hotel'; 'In Deep'; 'Could Do Better'; 'Best Mates'; 'Everybody Loves a Baby'; 'A Pair of Charlies'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 1)'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 2)'; 'Sunset Mansions, Or, Whatever Happened to Janey Babe?'; 'And In Again'; 'Dreaming of Thee'; 'And the Lord Taketh Away'; 'Louie the Ring is Dead & Buried in Kensal Green Cemetery'; 'The Jump-Up Boys'; 'Our Story So Far'; 'Do Me a Favour'; 'Glory of Fulham'; '24,000 Balll Point Pens'; 'King For a Day'; 'The Outside Man'; 'The Man Outside'; 'Brief Encounter'; & 'Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run'. PLAY Budgie stars the late British pop star, Adam Faith, as petty crook Ronald 'Budgie' Bird.

Budgie has just been released from prison however this doesn't stop him delving into questionable scams & get rich quick schemes; which seemingly always end in failure. This constantly gets him into trouble with both the police & his underworld boss Charlie Endell, played by Iain Cuthbertson. Episodes Comprise: 1. Out 2. Some Mother's Son 3. Brains 4. Grandee Hotel 5. In Deep 6. Could Do Better 7. Best Mates 8. Everybody Loves A Baby 9. A Pair Of Charlies 10. Fiddler On The Hoof: Part 1 11. Fiddler On The Hoof: Part 2 12. Sunset Mansions Or Whatever Happened To Janey Babe? 13. And In Again 14. Dreaming Of Thee 15. And The Lord Taketh away 16. Louie The Ring Is Dead & Buried In Kensal Green Cemetery 17. The Jump-Up Boys 18. Our Story So Far 19. Do Me A Favour 20. Glory Of Fulham 21.

24,000 Balll Point Pens 22. King For A Day 23. The Outside Man 24. The Man Outside 25. Brief Encounter 26. Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run SIMPLYHE All 26 episodes of the 1970s drama starring Adam Faith as petty crook Ron 'Budgie' Bird who constantly finds himself embroiled in petty scams & get rich quick schemes - none of which seem to end in success, & alll of which seem to get Budgie in trouble with the police, & with his dodgy underworld boss, Charlie Endell (Iain Cuthbertson).

Episodes are: 'Out'; 'Some Mother's Son'; 'Brains'; 'Grandee Hotel'; 'In Deep'; 'Could Do Better'; 'Best Mates'; 'Everybody Loves a Baby'; 'A Pair of Charlies'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 1)'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 2)'; 'Sunset Mansions, Or, Whatever Happened to Janey Babe?'; 'And In Again'; 'Dreaming of Thee'; 'And the Lord Taketh Away'; 'Louie the Ring is Dead & Buried in Kensal Green Cemetery'; 'The Jump-Up Boys'; 'Our Story So Far'; 'Do Me a Favour'; 'Glory of Fulham'; '24,000 Balll Point Pens'; 'King For a Day'; 'The Outside Man'; 'The Man Outside'; 'Brief Encounter'; & 'Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run'.

READERSDIGEST All 26 episodes of the 1970s drama starring Adam Faith as petty crook Ron 'Budgie' Bird who constantly finds himself embroiled in petty scams & get rich quick schemes - none of which seem to end in success, & alll of which seem to get Budgie in trouble with the police, & with his dodgy underworld boss, Charlie Endell (Iain Cuthbertson).

Episodes are: 'Out'; 'Some Mother's Son'; 'Brains'; 'Grandee Hotel'; 'In Deep'; 'Could Do Better'; 'Best Mates'; 'Everybody Loves a Baby'; 'A Pair of Charlies'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 1)'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 2)'; 'Sunset Mansions, Or, Whatever Happened to Janey Babe?'; 'And In Again'; 'Dreaming of Thee'; 'And the Lord Taketh Away'; 'Louie the Ring is Dead & Buried in Kensal Green Cemetery'; 'The Jump-Up Boys'; 'Our Story So Far'; 'Do Me a Favour'; 'Glory of Fulham'; '24,000 Balll Point Pens'; 'King For a Day'; 'The Outside Man'; 'The Man Outside'; 'Brief Encounter'; & 'Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run'.

Related Titles If you like Budgie - The Complete Series Boxset [DVD] [1971] then you may like to see price comparisons of these DVDs: Fox - Complete Series [1980] [DVD] About Budgie - The Complete Series Boxset DVD Price Comparison We try to find you a cheap Budgie - The Complete Series Boxset DVD price by comparing a huge number of online shops to find the cheapest price for DVDs. Shops we search for DVDs, CDs, books and video games include: Base, Coolshop, MyMemory, ASDA, WHSmith, GamePlay, PowerPlay, Gameseek, Amazon, CDWow, Waterstones, HMV, Simply Games, PriceMinister, Everything Play, ShopTo, Games4U, The Hut, Choices UK, LoveFilm, Woolworths, Game, Toys r Us, Tesco, SendIt, GameGears, Game Station, BBC Shop, Zavvi and Argos We try to find the cheapest prices for DVDs, box sets, video games, CDs and books - make sure you compare prices here before you buy to make sure you are getting the best price! Related Titles...

Budgie - Series 1 [DVD] [1971]: Amazon.co.uk: Moira Armstrong, Alan Gibson: DVD & Blu-ray Budgie - Series 1 [DVD] [1971] Moira Armstrong (Director), Alan Gibson (Director) Rated: Suitable for 12 years and over Format: DVD Only 1 left in stock. This seller does not deliver to the United States. Learn more Dispatched from and sold by pokerbooks . 4 new from Â£22.50 9 used from Â£4.35 1 collectible from Â£29.99 LOVEFiLM By Post Â£22.50 Only 1 left in stock. Dispatched from and sold by pokerbooks . Special Offers and Product Promotions Find all the best television shows from the other side of the pond in our US TV store and catch the latest shows in our 2014's Hottest TV page. Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.

) Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1 DVD Release Date: 22 May 2006 Run Time: 650 minutes Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images ? Product Description First series of the classic 1970s drama, starring Adam Faith as petty crook Ron 'Budgie' Bird. Recently released from prison, Budgie soon finds himself embroiled in more petty scams and get rich quick schemes, none of which seem to end in success, and all of which seem to get Budgie in trouble with the police, and with his dodgy underworld boss, Charlie Endell (Iain Cuthbertson). Episodes are: 'Out'; 'Some Mother's Son'; 'Brains'; 'Grandee Hotel'; 'In Deep'; 'Could Do Better'; 'Best Mates'; 'Everybody Loves a Baby'; 'A Pair of Charlies'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 1)'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 2)'; 'Sunset Mansions, Or, Whatever Happened to Janey Babe?'; and 'And In Again'.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. By muzo on 3 Dec. 2009 Format: DVD Verified Purchase Fascinating that looking back on this series almost all the plot and dialogue was later 'arf inched for "Minder"... So,plagiarism or flattery? Of course this rushed to DVD from VT has all the usual flaws associated with it,with little care in the transfer more evident in the first series than the second,and I cannot work out why the LWT logo to finish the final episode appears to be done in kiddies' crayon,and the soundtrack has some production staff mutterings in the background on fade... This series was cult viewing at the time and is another little piece of nostalgia that still works well today,if you forgive the lack of slickness in the production techniques.But it was how things were done back then.

Anyway,I enjoyed my trip down memory lane,if not Petticoat Lane aswell,and the dialogue launched some notable later careers for the likes of Jamie Oliver who appears to have based his entire mockney accent on that of Budgie Bird,the erstwhile and archetypal cockney wide-boy. "Leave it art","'ang abaht","come in Budgie,come in","the saucepan-lid","bish bash bosh",and the immortal "gor blimey,I've stood for it again" later a staple for Terry McCann...yep they are all there in abundance. You also get a chance to play spot-the-face,and a notable performance by the late John Thaw as a Welshman,pre- the "Shut it,son" Sweeney days,and a cameo by Peter Sallis are indicative of some of the real talent involved here. Not forgetting of course Iain Cuthbertson's affected and sometimes menacing Glasgie accent..... Another classic for my collection.If you were around 14 years of age circa 1970 it will also give an insight into how the term fashion victim was born.

Satin jackets,suede bombers,the round collar shirts and the garish boots are all on display,and some of us used to wear this "gear" too.......Enjoy. Iain Cuthbertson: Actor who played the procurator-fiscal in 'Sutherland's Law' and Charlie Endell in 'Budgie' | The Independent Iain Cuthbertson: Actor who played the procurator-fiscal in 'Sutherland's Law' and Charlie Endell in 'Budgie' Thursday 10 September 2009 23:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online The actor Iain Cuthbertson brought his towering, 6ft 41/2in stature and commanding presence to two very different television roles, on both sides of the law, in the 1970s. As Charlie Endell in Budgie, he was the suave Glaswegian gangster on the streets of London's Soho, employing the petty criminal of the title – played by the pop star-turned-actor Adam Faith – to do his dirty work and, sometimes, setting him up as a fall guy.

Endell was the Mr Big to Budgie's bungling, lovable rogue, who had just been let out of prison. "There are two things ah hate in life, Budgie," the hood told his runner, "an' you're both of them!" Budgie (1971-72), which was created by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, and ran to two series, was essentially a comedy-drama before the term had been coined. Verity Lambert, who produced it, saw it as an opportunity to give the criminals their say on screen after years of so many police dramas. Cuthbertson later revived his character, back on the streets of Glasgow after a stretch in jail, but without Budgie, in the short-lived spin-off Charles Endell Esquire (1979-80). In between, he had another lead role, as a procurator-fiscal – who in Scotland makes decisions on whether to bring prosecutions – in a small, west coast Scottish fishing village for 44 episodes of Sutherland's Law (1973-76).

John Sutherland was a dour character who frequently had to investigate further cases brought to him by the local police, and the gentle drama and beautiful locations, around Oban, proved popular with viewers. "I approve of Sutherland," the actor enthused. "He's not a cardboard figure. Although, like many who work out other people's problems, he's not too good at sorting out his own life. But these fiscals are extraordinary. They are paid less than their colleagues in private practice, yet there's no evidence of corruption. They are dedicated men." Cuthbertson was born in Glasgow in 1930, the son of Sir David Cuthbertson, a biochemist among the team that invented the saline drip. He attended Glasgow Academy and Aberdeen Grammar School before gaining an MA in languages from the University of Aberdeen. After National Service in the Black Watch, Cuthbertson joined BBC radio in Glasgow as a journalist, then switched to acting, both on radio and the stage. At Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, he played Proctor in The Crucible and Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (both 1958), and the title role in Othello (1959).

Then came good reviews for his performance as William Wallace in The Wallace, by Sydney Goodsir Smith, at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival. Two years later, he returned to the Citizens' Theatre (1962-65) as general manager and director of productions. After becoming associate director at London's Royal Court Theatre, where he played Musgrave in Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1965), Cuthbertson found himself in a stand-off with the Lord Chamberlain's Office, which was then the official censor of stage plays in Britain. It refused to grant a licence, without various cuts, to the Edward Bond play Saved (1965), which included the stoning to death of a baby. Cuthbertson was cautioned by police during violent scenes at the Royal Court, which attempted to sidestep legislation by turning itself into a private members' club. This case, and the banning of Bond's subsequent play, Early Morning, were instrumental in leading to the 1968 Theatres Act's abolition of the archaic censorship law.

By then, Cuthbertson was making an impression on television, having made his début in an episode of BBC Scotland's Para Handy – Master Mariner (1960). Later, in The Borderers (1968-70), he played Sir Walter Ker of Cessford, the warden settling disputes between lawless neightbours on the Anglo-Scottish border in the 16th century. He acted another authority figure, the headmaster Dr Arnold, in a five-part adaptation of Tom Brown's Schooldays (1971), followed by the role of Chief Constable Blair in the Scottish revolutionary thriller-fantasy series Scotch on the Rocks (1973), based on the book by Andrew Osmond and the future Conservative MP Douglas Hurd. In Danger UXB (1979), the Second World War bomb-disposal thriller series, he was seen as the scientist Doctor Gillespie. Cuthbertson also enjoyed a young following by appearing in two popular children's programmes.

He played Rafael Hendrick, trying to tap into the ancient power of a 4,000-year-old stone circle, in the adventure serial Children of the Stones (1977) and the villain Scunner Campbell, constantly thwarted by the old woman with magical powers (Gudrun Ure), in Supergran (1985-87). The actor also gave a particularly boisterous performance as the con-man from Earth, Garron, trying to sell off the medieval planet of Ribos, in the Doctor Who story "The Ribos Operation" (1978). In the cinema, Cuthbertson will be remembered as the wrongly imprisoned father stepping off a train amid clearing steam on returning to his family in the director Lionel Jeffries's much loved screen version of The Railway Children (1970).

His other film roles included recreations of real-life people – Dr Louis Leakey, the anthropologist who inspired Dian Fossey to study endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda, in Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Lord Hailsham in Scandal (1989) and Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, the Home Secretary who refused clemency to commute Derek Bentley's controversial death sentence in Let Him Have It (1991). A stroke in 1982 left Cuthbertson paralysed and unable to speak, but he fought back within 18 months to act again, but not on stage. On television he played several parts in Rab C Nesibitt (1988-92), Jack Flynn in The Justice Game (1989) and the Lord Chancellor in the mini-series The Guilty (1992). Cuthbertson, who was rector of Aberdeen University from 1975-78, was twice married, first to the actress Anne Kristen. He had no children.

Anthony Hayward Iain Cuthbertson, actor: born Glasgow 4 January 1930; married Anne Kristen (divorced 1988), 1997 Mary Smith; died Glasgow 4 September 2009. More about: Budgie - The Complete Series Boxset [DVD] [1971]: Amazon.co.uk: Adam Faith, Iain Cuthbertson, Lynn Dalby, June Lewis, John Rhys-Davies, Stella Tanner, Jack Shepherd, Georgina Hale, Derek Newark, George Tovey, Rio Fanning, Margaret Nolan, Keith Waterhouse, Willis Hall: DVD & Blu-ray Â£17.99 & FREE UK Delivery on orders dispatched by Amazon over Â£20. Details Only 14 left in stock (more on the way). Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available. Special Offers and Product Promotions Enjoy Â£1.00 credit to spend on movies or TV on Amazon Video when you purchase a DVD or Blu-ray offered by Amazon.co.uk. A maximum of 1 credit per customer applies. UK customers only.

Offer ends at 23:59 GMT on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Here's how (terms and conditions apply) Find all the best television shows from the other side of the pond in our US TV store and catch the latest shows in our 2014's Hottest TV page. Product Description Product Description All 26 episodes of the 1970s drama starring Adam Faith as petty crook Ron 'Budgie' Bird who constantly finds himself embroiled in petty scams and get rich quick schemes - none of which seem to end in success, and all of which seem to get Budgie in trouble with the police, and with his dodgy underworld boss, Charlie Endell (Iain Cuthbertson).

Episodes are: 'Out'; 'Some Mother's Son'; 'Brains'; 'Grandee Hotel'; 'In Deep'; 'Could Do Better'; 'Best Mates'; 'Everybody Loves a Baby'; 'A Pair of Charlies'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 1)'; 'Fiddler on the Hoof (Part 2)'; 'Sunset Mansions, Or, Whatever Happened to Janey Babe?'; 'And In Again'; 'Dreaming of Thee'; 'And the Lord Taketh Away'; 'Louie the Ring is Dead and Buried in Kensal Green Cemetery'; 'The Jump-Up Boys'; 'Our Story So Far'; 'Do Me a Favour'; 'Glory of Fulham'; '24,000 Ball Point Pens'; 'King For a Day'; 'The Outside Man'; 'The Man Outside'; 'Brief Encounter'; and 'Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run'. Sponsored Products Related To This Item (What's this?)

Question: Who played the part of Budgie in the 1970’s drama series?
Answer: Adam Faith